A Casual Meeting
by MiscellaneousSoup
Summary: What does it mean to be a hero? Kamala Khan and Malala Yousafzai have a chance encounter on the subway.


**A/N: I'm kind of nervous about writing this, but a user on The Mary Sue encouraged me to. I hope you enjoy it, everyone.**

 **A Casual Meeting**

 **by MiscellaneousSoup**

Kamala stumbled through the subway, carefully trying to balance her prized _Magical Pony Adventures_ backpack with two bags of costume gear. After a disastrous escapade involving a mongoose, several blue bouncy balls, the world's largest custard pie, and robots shaped like scissors, she had decided to always have at least three backup costumes on hand. "Oops, ow, sorry, pardon me!" " _Sheesh, so many people! Oh, well, a few bumps and bruises are nothing to complain about, 'specially because of the healing. It makes paper cuts MUCH less annoying."_

At that moment, as if some kind of vengeful being had beamed upon Kamala's thoughts and decided to play a trick on her, she tripped over the side of a bench. Subsequently, the heft of her backpack caused her to fall on her back, much like a baby turtle getting trapped in the sand. Comics, Captain Marvel memorabilia, fabric sheets, and potential alternate logos spilled everywhere.

Kamala groaned. "Aghh! Nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, _nuts!_ " Frantically, she began picking up the spilled contents, praying that nobody would connect the dots. " _Why did I choose today to keep a record of my adventures in my backpack? I really hope that if anyone sees this, they'll just think that I'm a cosplayer-OW!"_ Some guy with a briefcase had accidentally trodden on her hand.

He coughed awkwardly and bent down to help pick up her items. "My apologies, miss. Need any help?"

" _Crapcrapcrap CRAP!"_ Cringing inwardly, Kamala noticed that he was reaching directly for her journal. Even more unfortunately, it was open to a page directly recounting her very first team-up, complete with cartoon doodles of the affair. "No, sir, but thank you for offering. The subway seems more crowded than usual. What's going on?"

The man raised his eyebrows. "You don't know? It's been all over InstaSlam! A visiting celebrity is giving a huge speech at the Micro Tech Training Center today. It's also a cross-promotion for a new program by STEM, 'Modern Women In History.' All the subways are closing early so the workers can see it. Her name is-" He was cut off by a bing from the speaker system. _**"Alert: Subway train A4 leaving for Jersey City, New Jersey in five minutes. Once again, Subway train A4 leaving for Jersey City, New Jersey in five minutes."**_

Kamala scooped up the last glitter-glue gun. "Sorry, but I gotta go! Have a good day!"

Frantically, she ran to the station, chanting, "Please, please, please, please- YES!" She pulled out her MetroCard, pushed through the barrier...and failed to open the door. "NUTS!" Several passersby stopped to look at her, even the texting officer in charge of scanning the MetroCards.

Kamala gave an embarrassed wave, trying not to blush. _"I have to get in, I have to get in, I have to get in! What's going on with the door?"_

She looked around again. All of the other passengers were gone and the officer looked pretty engrossed in his texting. Quietly, she whispered, "Embiggen!" At once, her hand grew and flattened. In a matter of seconds, she was able to pry the door open. After that, she closed the door and sat on a bench, heart pounding.

Across from her sat a man and a woman in fancy suits, wearing sunglasses. A teenage girl, most likely their daughter, sat primly in between them. She was wearing a hijab and holding a thick novel. Looking up from the book, she smiled and waved at Kamala. "Hello. How are you?"

Kamala smiled back, detecting a faint accent. "Hi! I'm fine. What about you?"

"I am also fine." The girl pointed at Kamala's backpack. "I like your _Magical Pony Adventures_ backpack. Have you seen the trailer for the new film?"

Kamala crinkled her forehead. "Oh, yeah, it had a Captain Marvel easter egg. I, um, run a fan blog on Tumblr that catalogues references to her in media. People seem to like it. I'm kind of a fangirl."

"I can see, judging from the contents of your bag." The girl nodded at the heavier of Kamala's bag, which had ripped, revealing the corner of a Captain Marvel drawing.

Kamala started. _"Nuts, my fancomic of a team-up with Captain Marvel Is it egotistical to write myself into a fancomic?"_ "Uh, yeah. She's really heroic. She's saved the world so many times. She punched out a dinosaur, she stopped a cosmic bad guy despite having a brain injury, she even took on an entire _army_ of space invaders! I think of her as one of my role models."

The other girl nodded. "I can see that. Still, I think that Ms. Marvel might be slightly more heroic."

Kamala's heart skipped a beat. Was the other girl messing with her? Was part of her costume showing? "That's silly! Um, not to be rude or anything. Captain Marvel has done so much more things! She's a veteran hero and Ms. Marvel is a newbie. I don't think that she's even had any non-New Jersey adventures."

The other girl slid her novel into a satchel. "It's simple. I come from Pakistan and, sometimes, I feel lonely. I miss my friends. Whenever I read the papers or browse various websites for fancomics, I never see other Muslim superheroes. One day, I found out about Ms. Marvel. She seems to be similar to me, so I can relate to her. She stands up for what she believes in and doesn't apologize for that. At times, I can pretend that I _am_ her. It helps when I feel anxious. I have a stressful and busy life."

Kamala thought for a second. "That's really nice of you-Hey, what's your name? I never learned it."

Unfortunately, the speaker system took that time to belch out an announcement. _**"Alert: Train A4 stopping at Jersey City, New Jersey. All residents looking to get off at New Jersey, Jersey City, get off."**_

Kamala jumped up and grabbed her bags, making sure to not let anything spill out of the torn plastic bag. "Sorry, I have to go. See you later, maybe?"

The girl smiled and pulled out her novel again. "Maybe someday. Goodbye!"

…

Hours later, Kama finally made it home, Opening the door, she slunk in, inhaling the delicious smell of dinner. "Hi, Mom! You wouldn't believe the day that I had."

Kamala's mom walked over and gave her a hug. "Hi, sweetie! I finished a library book today and I thought you might be interested in it." She walked over to a big stack of books in the living room and picked up the one on top. "Here. Enjoy!"

Kamala walked to her room and set down her bags. Picking up the book, she glanced at the cover. "Let's see...I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education And Was Shot By The Taliban. Sounds interesting! Wait...she looks familiar...Whoa!" With a smile, she recalled the meeting at the subway. "Wow!"

 **THE END**


End file.
